Knitted and woven fabric and garments made therewith

ABSTRACT

A knit fabric has a first yarn having a first spandex fibre core and a rayon fibre sheath and a second yarn having a second spandex fibre core and a nylon fibre sheath. A woven fabric has a warp yarn having a first spandex core and a cotton fibre sheath and a weft yarn having a second spandex core and a blended polyester and rayon fibre sheath. Garments are made from these fabrics.

FIELD

The present invention relates generally to knitted and woven fabricswhich may be used in the manufacture of garments.

BACKGROUND

Elastic materials are commonly used in the construction of garments toimprove comfort to the wearer. Garments constructed from such elasticmaterials may stretch to conform to the body of the wearer when worn,and recover to their relaxed state after removal from the wearer andlaundering. However, it would also be desirable for such garments toproduce a slimming effect on the wearer, thereby enabling the wearer topresent an aesthetically appealing, contoured and shaped body profile.

Accordingly, there is a need for improved fabrics and designs in themanufacturing of garments.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the present disclosure relates to new and improved knitfabric for use in the manufacturing of garments. The fabric comprises afirst yarn having a first spandex fibre core and a rayon fibre sheath;and a second yarn having a second spandex fibre core and a nylon fibresheath.

Another aspect of the present disclosure relates to a new and improvedgarment composed of sewn sections of a knit fabric, said knit fabriccomprising: a first yarn having a first spandex fibre core and a rayonfibre sheath; and a second yarn having a second spandex fibre core and anylon fibre sheath, wherein said rayon fibre sheath comprises rayonhaving an S number of 40, said nylon fibre sheath comprises nylon havinga denier of 70, and each of said first spandex fibre core and saidsecond spandex fibre core comprises spandex having a denier of 40.

In another aspect there is provided a woven fabric comprising: a warpyarn having a first spandex core and a cotton fibre sheath; and a weftyarn having a second spandex core and a blended polyester and rayonfibre sheath.

Other aspects, features, and embodiments of the present disclosure willbecome apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon review of thefollowing description of specific embodiments in conjunction with theaccompanying figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the figures, which illustrate, by way of example only, embodiments ofthe present disclosure:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating the knit pattern of a fabricmade in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 is a schematic view illustrating the weave pattern of a fabricmade in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a front perspective view of pants made from the fabricdepicted in FIG. 1 in accordance a further embodiment of the presentdisclosure;

FIG. 4 is a front view of the pants of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a rear view of the pants of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a right side view of the pants of FIG. 3;

FIG. 7 is a left side view of the pants of FIG. 3;

FIG. 8 are patterns for the front of a leg and buttock portion of thepants of FIG. 3;

FIG. 9 are patterns for the back of a leg and buttock portion of thepants of FIG. 3; and

FIG. 10 is a front perspective of pants made from the fabric depicted inFIG. 2 in accordance with another embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

An embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a fabric that may beused in the manufacturing of garments. The fabric is well-suited for usein the manufacture of pants.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates the knit pattern of aknitted fabric 100 made in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

As depicted in FIG. 1, the fabric 100 is knitted in a double-layeredweft-knitted pattern. Fabric 100 includes a plurality of courses C and aplurality of wales W, the courses C run roughly parallel to one anotherin the weft direction, and the wales W are oriented perpendicularly tocourses C.

The knitting pattern depicted in FIG. 1 is a double-layered stockinettestitch. However, the knitting pattern used in the construction of fabric100 may be any type of double-layered weft-knitted pattern known in theart. The double-layering can result in a tighter, stronger and smootherfabric which has somewhat less stretch, but better recovery.

Each course C includes two threads of yarn. The fabric 100 is comprisedof two types of yarns, a first elastic core-spun yarn having a spandexfibre core and a rayon fibre sheath, and a second elastic core-spun yarnhaving a spandex fibre core and a nylon fibre sheath. The courses C arearranged such that they alternately include threads of yarn with spandexfibre core and rayon fibre sheath, and threads of yarn with spandexfibre core and nylon fibre sheath. Thus, the threads of yarn in a givencourse C are of the same composition, but differ in composition from thethreads of yarn in the courses directly adjacent to it.

For example, in FIG. 1, course C1 includes threads 102 and 104, courseC2 includes threads 106 and 108, and course C3 includes threads 110 and112, wherein the threads of course C1-102, 104 and of C3-110 112- arecomprised of yarn having a spandex fibre core and a rayon fibre sheath,while the threads of course C2-106 and 108- are comprised of yarn havinga spandex fibre core and a nylon fibre sheath.

The rayon fibre sheath of the yarn comprising threads 102, 104, 110, and112 may be a Siro compact yarn with an S number of 40. The nylon fibresheath of the yarn comprising threads 106 and 108 may be 70 denier nylon66 yarn. The spandex core of the yarns comprising threads 102, 104, 106,108, 110 and 112 may be 40 denier spandex. The fabric 100 may thus havea rayon content of 68% by weight, a nylon content of 28% by weight, anda spandex content of 4% by weight.

Fabric 100 may be dyed, washed, and finished to make it suitable for usein the construction of garments, and for example, pants. The dying,washing, and finishing processes used to treat fabric 100 are known inthe art and so are not further described.

The fabric 100, as constructed in accordance with the presentdisclosure, can be stretched between 30% to 36% along the weftdirection, and 48% to 58% along the warp direction, (i.e. perpendicularto the weft direction) when tested using Standard Test Method ASTMD-2594. The stretchability of finished fabric 100 is not significantlyimpacted by laundering the fabric. While fabric 100 is stretchable inboth the weft and warp directions, it readily recovers to its relaxedstate after tensile forces are removed from the fabric.

Turning to FIGS. 3-7, there is depicted an exemplary pair of pants 300as manufactured using the knitted fabric 100 as disclosed above.However, it may be appreciated that the knitted fabric 100 can also beused in the manufacture of other garments (e.g., skirts, jackets, vests)as well as other products that require a stretchy fabric covering.

Pants 300 have a left side front panel 316 and a rear panel 318 and aright side front panel 320 and rear panel 322. When the pants are worn,front panel 316 covers the left thigh and front of the left leg of thewearer (not shown), back panel 318 covers the left buttock and rear ofthe left leg of the wearer, front panel 320 covers the right thigh andfront of the right leg of the wearer, and back panel 322 covers theright buttock and rear of the right leg of the user. Each leg mayterminate in a cuff 324, 326. The fabric 100 in pants 300 is orientedsuch that the courses C of fabric 100 run parallel to the waist of pants300 (i.e. perpendicular to the length dimension, L, of the pants).

As can be appreciated, it would be desirable that pants 300 have aslimming effect on the wearer, thereby enabling the wearer to present anaesthetically appealing, contoured and shaped body profile. It has beensurprisingly discovered that pants comprising the knitted fabricdepicted in FIG. 1 and having a total crotch length (i.e., the sum ofthe front crotch length 340 and the back crotch length 342) that isbetween seven and twelve inches longer than 47% of a waist length 330will provide the desired compressive forces to the waist, buttocks,upper hip, and lower hip of the wearer. Furthermore, it has been foundthat, the aforementioned total crotch length to waist length ratioproduces the desired slimming effect on wearers throughout the differentpants sizings and through a range of pants styles.

More specifically, as depicted in FIGS. 8 and 9, the dimensions of thepatterns for the panels of the pants vary depending on sizing. FIG. 8shows the left front panel 316 for the pants patterned from extra smallpattern 316XS, small pattern 316S, medium pattern 316M, large pattern316L, to extra-large pattern 316XL. FIG. 9 shows the left rear panel 318of the pants correspondingly patterned from extra small pattern 318XS,small pattern 318S, medium pattern 318M, large pattern 318L, toextra-large pattern 318XL. The patterns of FIGS. 8 and 9 are also usedto create corresponding right front panel 320 and right rear panel 322.The aforedescribed ratio of total crotch length to waist length holdsfor all of these different sizings.

The dimensions of the patterns may vary depending on the style of thepants to be constructed therefrom. For example, the length of the pantsmay change by varying the inseam length 350 and outseam length 352 ofpants 300 to create different styles of pants. Thus, whereas the cuffs324 and 326 of pants 300 may end at the ankles of the wearer for longpants, the cuffs 324 and 326 of the pants 300 may end just below theknees for culottes, or midway between the knees and ankles of the wearerfor capris.

Moreover, the thigh circumference 332, knee circumference 334, calfcircumference 336 and leg opening 336 of the pants 300 may be altered tochange the silhouette of the pants constructed therefrom.

The aforementioned and other modifications may be made by those skilledin the art to create pants of different sizes and styles. For all suchvariants of pants 300, the total crotch length when configured to bebetween seven and twelve inches longer than 47% of the waistcircumference provides compressive forces to the body of the wearer toproduce a desired slimming effect on the wearer.

When pants 300 are worn, the fabric of pants 300 are in a perpetuallystretched condition about the buttocks and upper thighs of the wearer.The pants 300 will thus snugly hug the waist, buttocks, upper hip andlower hip of the wearer such that the pants 300 create a slimming effecton the body of the wearer. Moreover, the elasticity of the fabric of thepants 300 is such that during movement of the wearer, for example, whenthe wearer sits down or bends over, the pants 300 do not ride up on thelegs or into the crotch or intergluteal cleft of the wearer and do nothave to be manually adjusted by the wearer. When the pants 300 areremoved from the wearer, they will recover to their original relaxedstate.

Turning now to FIG. 2, there is illustrated the weaving pattern of awoven fabric 200 made in accordance with another embodiment of thepresent invention. Fabric 200 may be used in the manufacturing ofgarments and other products that require a stretch fabric covering.

Woven fabric 200 has weft threads 202 and warp threads 204, woventogether using a 3/1 twill weave pattern. Each weft thread 202 is a yarnhaving a spandex core of 70 denier spandex and a cotton fibre sheath ofring spun cotton with an S number of 16. Each warp thread 204 is a yarnhaving a spandex core of 70 denier spandex and a blended rayon andpolyester sheath. Preferably, the rayon and polyester in the blendedrayon and polyester sheath are blended together in a ratio of 22:19rayon to polyester by weight. Further, the polyester of the blendedrayon polyester sheath is preferably terylene. The fabric 200 may thushave a cotton content of 55% by weight, a rayon content of 22% byweight, a polyester content of 19% by weight, and a spandex content of4% by weight.

Fabric 200 may be dyed, washed, and finished to make it suitable for usein the construction of garments. In a preferred finishing method, fabric200 is first subjected to a desizing washing using water at atemperature of about 28° C. for about 20 minutes, then subjected toenzyme washing using water at a temperature of about 40° C. andcellulase (at a concentration which is selected dependent upon thedesired fashion effect) for about 40 minutes, and then finally rinsedand softened.

The finished fabric 200 can be stretched between 50% to 58% along theweft direction, and 20% to 25% along the warp direction, (i.e.perpendicular to the weft direction) when tested using Standard TestMethod ASTM D3107. The stretchability of finished fabric 200 is notsignificantly impacted by laundering the fabric. While fabric 200 isstretchable in both the weft and warp directions, it readily recovers toits relaxed state when tensile forces are removed.

Turning to FIG. 10, pants 1000 are constructed from the woven fabric 200depicted in FIG. 2. It may be appreciated that the woven fabric 200 canalso be used in the manufacture of other garments (e.g. skirts, jackets,vests) as well as other products that require a stretchy fabriccovering.

Pants 1000 are dimensionally identical to pants 300 of FIG. 3—and likereference numerals have been given to like parts. The fabric 200 inpants 1000 is oriented such that weft threads 202 run parallel to thewaist of pants 1000, and warp threads 204 run from the waist of pants1000 toward the leg openings of pants 1000.

Given that pants 1000 are dimensionally identical to pants 300, pants1000 are constructed from the patterns of FIGS. 8 and 9 and have a totalcrotch length (i.e. the sum of the front crotch length and the backcrotch length) that is between seven and twelve inches longer than 47%of a waist length 1030. With this ratio of crotch length to waistlength, pants 1000 provide desired compressive forces to the waist,buttocks, upper hip, and lower hip of the wearer, as aforedescribed.Also as aforedescribed, the patterns for pants 1000 may be varied tocreate pants of different sizes and styles with all such variantsmaintaining the noted crotch length to waist length ratio in order toprovide the desired compressive forces.

The pants 1000 thus constructed snugly hug the waist, buttocks, upperhip, and lower hip of the wearer such that the pants create a slimmingeffect on the body of the wearer and conform to movements of the wearer.Moreover, the elasticity of the fabric of the pants 1000 is such thatduring movement of the wearer, such as, for example, when the wearersits down or bends over, the pants 1000 do not ride up on the legs orinto the crotch or intergluteal cleft of the wearer and do not have tobe manually adjusted by the wearer.

Other modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and,therefore, the invention is defined in the claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A knit fabric comprising: a. a first yarn havinga first spandex fibre core and a rayon fibre sheath; and b. a secondyarn having a second spandex fibre core and a nylon fibre sheath.
 2. Theknit fabric of claim 1 wherein said rayon fibre sheath comprises about68% of said fabric by weight; said nylon fibre sheath comprises about28% of said fabric by weight; and said first spandex fibre core and saidsecond spandex fibre core comprise about 4% of said fabric by weight. 3.The knit fabric of claim 2 wherein said rayon fibre sheath comprisesrayon having an S number of
 40. 4. The knit fabric of claim 3 whereinsaid nylon fibre sheath comprises nylon having a denier of
 70. 5. Theknit fabric of claim 4 wherein said spandex fibre core comprises spandexhaving a denier of
 40. 6. The knit fabric of claim 4 wherein said firstyarn and said second yarn are weft-knitted.
 7. The knit fabric of claim6 wherein said first yarn and said second yarn are knitted in adouble-layered stockinette pattern such that said fabric can bestretched between 48% to 58% along a warp direction and between 30% to36% along a weft direction.
 8. The knit fabric of claim 3 wherein saidrayon comprises a Siro compact yarn.
 9. The knit fabric of claim 4wherein said nylon is nylon
 66. 10. A garment composed of sewn sectionsof a knit fabric, said knit fabric comprising: a. a first yarn having afirst spandex fibre core and a rayon fibre sheath; and b. a second yarnhaving a second spandex fibre core and a nylon fibre sheath, whereinsaid rayon fibre sheath comprises rayon having an S number of 40, saidnylon fibre sheath comprises nylon having a denier of 70, and each ofsaid first spandex fibre core and said second spandex fibre corecomprises spandex having a denier of
 40. 11. The garment of claim 8wherein said rayon fibre sheath constitutes about 68% of said fabric byweight; said nylon fibre sheath constitutes about 28% of said fabric byweight; and said first spandex fibre core and said second spandex fibrecore constitute about 4% of said fabric by weight.
 12. The garment ofclaim 9 wherein said rayon comprises a Siro compact yarn.
 13. Thegarment of claim 10 wherein said nylon is nylon
 66. 14. The garment ofclaim 9 constructed as a pair of pants with a total crotch length thatis between seven and twelve inches longer than 47% of a length of awaist of the pants.
 15. A woven fabric comprising: a. a warp yarn havinga first spandex core and a cotton fibre sheath; and b. a weft yarnhaving a second spandex core and a blended polyester and rayon fibresheath.
 16. The woven fabric of claim 13 wherein said cotton fibresheath constitutes about 55% of said fabric by weight; said rayon ofsaid blended polyester and rayon fibre sheath constitutes about 22% ofsaid fabric by weight; said polyester of said blended polyester andrayon fibre sheath constitutes about 19% of said fabric by weight; andsaid first spandex fibre core and said second spandex fibre coreconstitute about 4% of said fabric by weight.
 17. The woven fabric ofclaim 14 wherein said cotton fibre sheath comprises cotton having an Snumber of
 16. 18. The woven fabric of claim 15 wherein said blendedpolyester and rayon fibre sheath comprises blended polyester and rayonhaving an S number of
 16. 19. The woven fabric of claim 16 wherein saidfirst spandex fibre core comprises spandex having a denier of 30 andsaid second spandex core comprises spandex having a denier of
 70. 20.The woven fabric of claim 17 wherein said polyester is terylene.
 21. Thewoven fabric of claim 18 wherein said cotton yarn is ring spun cottonyarn.
 22. A method of processing the woven fabric of claim 17 comprisingshrinking said fabric by washing such that said woven fabric can bestretched between 20% to 25% along a warp direction and between 50% to58% along a weft direction.
 23. The method of claim 20 wherein saidwashing comprises a desizing wash followed by an enzyme wash usingcellulase, said enzyme wash having a duration of about 40 minutes at atemperature of about 40° C.
 24. A garment composed of sewn sections of awoven fabric comprising: a. a warp yarn having a first spandex core anda cotton fibre sheath; and b. a weft yarn having a second spandex coreand a blended polyester and rayon fibre sheath, wherein said cottonfibre sheath comprises cotton having an S number of 16, said blendedpolyester and rayon fibre sheath comprises blended polyester and rayonhaving an S number of 16, said first spandex fibre core comprisesspandex having a denier of 30, and said second spandex core comprisesspandex having a denier of
 70. 25. The garment of claim 22 wherein saidcotton fibre sheath constitutes about 55% of said fabric by weight; saidrayon of said blended polyester and rayon fibre sheath constitutes about22% of said fabric by weight; said polyester of said blended polyesterand rayon fibre sheath constitutes about 19% of said fabric by weight;and said first spandex fibre core and said second spandex fibre coreconstitute about 4% of said fabric by weight.
 26. The garment of claim23 wherein said polyester is terylene.
 27. The garment of claim 23constructed as a pair of pants with a total crotch length that isbetween seven and twelve inches longer than 47% of a length of a waistof the pants.